Manit's Master series of photographs takes aim at the eerily life-like scuptures of famous monks, placed in Thai temples to solicit cash offerings from the faithful. For many, this superstitious...
Manit's Master series of photographs takes aim at the eerily life-like scuptures of famous monks, placed in Thai temples to solicit cash offerings from the faithful. For many, this superstitious practice is evidence of the corruption of Buddhism by thailand's wanton consumerism. As the artist puts it, "the mosre advanced the marketing and production techniques, the more intricate and fantastical their products, the further we travel from the Buddha. " Manit is particularly interested in Thai history and his country's political development of the last few decades. Appropriating others' images as well as using his own photographs as documents, Manit has created an original body of work that reveals Thailand in all her contemporary socio-political complexity.